Noah's POV

"Because Zozo was a twin"

What?!

"Back then, I didn't even know that I was having twins. Hell, I didn't even know the gender of my baby because I couldn't afford to know, literally. All the allowance, I had saved up was for baby clothes, diapers and all that." She started

"On the delivery day, after going through hell to have Zozo the doctors told me that there was another one when I heard that I didn't know what to think. I knew I couldn't take care of two babies, I didn't even plan for two babies but when he came out stillborn—"

"He?" I muttered out unconsciously

"Yeah, it was a boy" she replied

"When he came out not crying or breathing, I was so petrified. The nurses and doctors did everything they could to revive him but to no avail, I was completely shattered. After I was discharged, I would sometimes think of him and feel so guilty that he wasn't here with Zozo and me. Other times, I would think it was for the best and that I probably wouldn't have been able to take care of them. Then again, I would feel bad for even thinking that way and the cycle was driving me crazy, so I willed myself to stop."

"It was so hard not to think of him when I was with Zozo but I managed. The only time he popped into my head was on their birthday, well Zozo's birthday. It was always a bittersweet day for me. On one hand, my baby was growing up into a beautiful girl before my eyes and on the other hand, there were supposed to be two of them."

"I would think about what he would've looked like as grown as Zozo. Would he have been the taller twin? Would he have been the quiet and calm one or would he have been wilder and more energetic? So many questions would always pop into my head and I would find myself fluctuating between being happy and sad."

This made a lot of sense now. I now understood why she was spotting a sad look during Zozo's birthday party.

I didn't even know how to respond to this, I was beyond shocked by the news. To lose a pregnancy was one thing, but to carry it to term and have no child to show for it was a whole other thing. This kind of circumstances destabilizes a lot of women and puts a strain on their mental health.

She might not have known she was having twins at first but she did during delivery and to lose one child, I knew the questions of 'what ifs' would be endless. To be honest, I didn't blame her for how she reacted in the courtroom, she had been through so much and she needed to vent.

She must have taken my silence as a sign of annoyance towards her and my moment of information digestion as a sign that I was giving up on the relationship because she went on a full rant.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you about this earlier and that you had to find out this way. I know you must feel like my issues don't ever stop coming back to haunt me and my dark past keeps rearing its ugly head in our present. I would completely understand if you don't want to go further with this relationship, I mean if I was you I don't think I wou—"

I placed bent down to her level and placed both hands on the sides of her head. I gently raised her head so we were looking at each other eye to eye.

"Listen to me. I meant every word I said in that courtroom, I would ride and die with you no matter what those people dig up about you. You are the strongest woman I've ever known and if anything, I'm in awe of how you kept rising up stronger each time life tried to bring you down." I said cutting her off

I took her hands in mine. "You are a true inspiration to me and I love you regardless of whatever, don't ever doubt that. If I could have my way right now, I would marry you in this damn courthouse this minute just to show you that I'm not going anywhere."

I was trying to calm her down but I succeeded in turning her into a crying mess. She threw her arms around me and buried her face in my black suit jacket.

"I don't deserve you," she said but it came out muffled.

I placed a kiss on her hair as I rubbed her back soothingly. "Believe me, you do"

Aunt Chisom cleared her throat. "I hate to break this beautiful moment here but we were given an hour to return back to the courtroom"

I had completely forgotten that she was standing right there with us in the small office. We pulled apart and I handed Ijeoma the napkin that was kept in my breast pocket to wipe her eyes.

"Oh my God, I acted like a complete lunatic in the courtroom. I single-handedly destroyed my chances of keeping my daughter, didn't I?" she said suddenly like she just realized her actions. "I could've just said yes when he asked about my pregnancy history, I could've just—"

I could sense that she was going into a full panic mode so I stopped her before she went any further.

"There's nothing wrong with what you did in there, okay. And you're not weak for acting that way, you've been strong for way too long and you needed to vent." I said

"The case is not lost. We still have a strong chance of winning, if anything your reaction although wild shows that you're human and you have emotions" Aunt Chisom added. "So, don't worry"

Ijeoma nodded calmly. "Okay"

"They are probably going to ask you why you denied having complications during labour but don't worry, here's what you'll do" Aunt Chisom stated

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"Miss Ijeoma, can you tell us what's on this paper?" Kunle's lawyer asked

"It's the hospital report of my dead baby," she said straight-faced.

A couple of gasps and whispers were heard throughout the courtroom but the judge banged the gavel against his table and called the court to order. Within seconds, the courtroom returned to its silent state and the judge gave Kunle's attorney a 'go ahead' nod.

"Do you know what perjury means, Miss Ijeoma?"

"Yes" she nodded

"Can you define it for the court?"

"Perjury is the crime of lying under oath" she answered

"Good. So you understand that telling us you had no complications during labour when you knew full well that one of your babies died during birth, you committed perjury?" he said

"I didn't lie. You asked if there were any complications during labour and there wasn't. I didn't have a prolapsed cord or an emergency C-section or was a suction pump used on me. I had a normal delivery like everyone else but the only difference is that my child came out dead." She said with tears rolling down her face.

"You people want to take my daughter away from me so bad that you would dig up my worst moments and use it against me-"

"Miss Ijeoma" the judge warned

"That man has put me through hell and back. He abandoned me when I needed him the most, when I needed him to provide for us. My baby boy isn't here because of him and now you want to blame it on me—"she pointed at Kunle, gradually raising her voice.

"Miss Ijeoma" the judge called out again

"You wanted to prove me to be an incompetent mother and that's why you brought this up. To prove what? That I killed my child? Is that what you wanted to prove?" she yelled waving the record papers in the air.

The judge banged the gavel against the table. "Miss Ijeoma. If you don't want to be held in contempt, I would advise you to calm down"

She turned to judge with her chest heaving. "I'm sorry"

"I rest my case." Kunle's attorney said before returning to his seat as did Ijeoma.

"This court session has been dragged out today, more than it should have. With today being a Friday, the next court session has hereby adjourned to Monday. Then both attorneys would have the chance to present their closing statements and a verdict would be reached" The judge said with a bang of his gavel.

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(Next day)

"We are in collaboration with certain insurance companies, that way people who are insured can get medical treatment using those insurance companies" I explained

"Does that mean that they don't need to pay the hospital, that the hospital would take the bills from the insurance company?" Ijeoma's father asked

"Yes" I stated

"Wow, that's very nice oo" he exclaimed

"Yes, it is"

"So how do people know the insurance companies you people regard?" he asked

"For patients interested in registering with insurance companies for future purposes, we have fliers with the information on the insurance companies we use. We just hand them those fliers to the patients and they carry out their own research" I replied

"Oh okay," he said nodding. "That makes sense"

Ijeoma's dad and I were in the living room alone and I think in his bid to know me better, he began asking questions regarding the hospital and my job. Before this, we had a heart to heart talk, where he thanked me for standing by his daughter's side in such a tough time in her life. I was actually happy that he was trying to form some kind of bond with me.

"By the way, where is Ijeoma?" he said before calling out her name.

"I'll go and get her," I said before rising from the sofa.

I walked past the short corridor that led to the bedroom Ijeoma and I both shared. I placed two soft knocks on the door before stepping into the room. Ijeoma was on her knees, eyes closed, leaning on the bed with her hands clasped together.

"God, please don't let them take my daughter away from me" she muttered

I would normally excuse myself whenever I walked into a room with people praying, not because I wasn't religious. I just felt like I was intruding on a personal and private moment, where they poured their hearts to God.

I didn't walk away this time around instead I walked over to her side and joined her. We needed all the help we could get and some spiritual help to back up what had been physically done would be best.

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